WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has urged China to maintain cross-strait stability during a meeting with a top Chinese official amid elections in Taiwan.
Antony Blinken, briefly back in the US in between his latest Middle East crisis trip and a visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos, met with Liu Jianchao, who heads the world division of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee.
The US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement that they had a constructive talk on a range of bilateral, global and regional issues, including areas of potential cooperation and areas of difference.
Taiwan Elections
Blinken reiterated the significance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
Voters have started casting ballots today in Taiwan’s presidential and parliamentary elections, a poll closely watched worldwide. According to local media polls opened at 0000 GMT at nearly 18,000 locations, from the island’s south to its capital city Taipei. AFP reported that polls closed in pivotal election in Tiawan and vote counting is under way.
China slammed frontrunner Lai Ching-te, the present vice president, as a dangerous “separatist” in the days leading up to the poll, warned voters to make “the correct choice” if they want to avoid conflict.
As per media reports, results will be closely watched from Washington to Beijing—as the two superpowers struggle for influence in the strategically important region.
